Gilas Pilipinas wins opening match against tough Indian squad
Gilas Pilipinas opened its bid for Asian Games gold with an 85-76 victory over India, Tuesday afternoon at the Hwaseong Sports Complex Gymnasium in Incheon, South Korea.
Oozing with confidence after their stint in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, Gilas started like a house on fire against the Indians. They quickly took full control of the ball game with a 16-0 start thanks largely to the shooting of LA Tenorio and Jeff Chan.
The Filipinos had to endure some nervous moments as the Indians tried to shoot their way back into the game with long triples but India's comeback attempt came a little too late.
Gilas will take on Iran on Thursday for the top spot in Group E and a better position in the quarterfinals of the basketball competitions in the Asian Games.
Marcus Douthit and Jeff Chan led Gilas with 14 points each while Gary David added 13 markers.
June Mar Fajardo starred with 12 points and seven rebounds in the first half but he was played sparingly in the second half to keep him fresh for his upcoming duel with Iran’s Hamed Haddadi.
Gilas outrebounded India 39 to 24 but they committed 20 turnovers.
Tenorio opened the Philippines’ campaign with back-to-back triples for an early 6-0 lead. India then called a timeout but Gilas unleashed a full-court press defense that caught them off-guard. This resulted in three straight turnovers leading to a basket from Marcus Douthit and five straight points from Jeff Chan for a 11-0 lead.
India called another timeout as their coach chastised his players for failing to run their press break properly.
Chan continued to shoot the lights out as he nailed another triple for a 16-0 lead. Amritpal Singh finally broke the silence for India with an inside two.
Back-to-back triples from Pratham Singh cut the Philippines’ lead down to 10 at 21-11. India also scored the first quarter’s last basket as they cut the deficit down to eight at 24-16.
Gary David and June Mar Fajardo kept Gilas ahead 34-23 with 7:01 still remaining in the second quarter. Gilas unleashed a 9-0 run midway through the period for a 45-28 lead. They held on to a 50-37 lead at the half, which was capped by a beautiful alley-oop dunk from Japeth Aguilar off a lob from Gabe Norwood.
Fajardo led Gilas with 12 points, seven rebounds, and a monster block while Chan chipped in 11.
The Indians cut their deficit down to eight points but Gilas buckled down on defense and rebuilt a huge 62-44 off two straight baskets from Douthit.
With Aguilar in pouring points, Gilas held a 70-56 lead heading into the final period.
David opened the fourth with five straight points to keep Gilas comfortably ahead, 75-58.
India hung around dangerously close as they cut their deficit down to 12 points but a basket from Douthit and a triple from Chan raised Gilas’ lead to 17 again at 82-65.
The Indians refused to give up without a fight as they sliced the deficit to 11, 84-73, with two minutes left in the clock. They got even closer after another triple from Amjyot Singh, 84-76. Luckily for Gilas, there were only 44 seconds left on the game clock when that happened.
The scores:
Gilas 85: Douthit 14, Chan 14, David 13, Fajardo 12, Tenorio 10, Aguilar 10, De Ocampo 4, Norwood 3, Dillinger 2, Lee 2, Alapag 1, Pingris 0.
India 76: Amriptal 16, Amjyot 15, Bhriguvanshi 13, Joginder 13, Pratham 11, Brar 6, Pethani 2, Grewal 0, Pari 0, Mishra 0, Sivakumar 0, Yadwinder 0.
Quarters: 24-16, 50-37, 70-56, 85-76.
